Dennis Siver like you have never seen him before: In our interview before his big fight against Irishman Conor McGregor, this coming Sunday, the German is hopping mad and finds very harsh words for his cheeky opponent.

Groundandpound.de: Only a couple of days to go. Is this the biggest fight of your life?
Dennis Siver: Maybe. It’s a main event fight against a big name opponent, so yes, it is my biggest fight to date. But definitely not against the hardest opponent of my life.

Still, in most of the coverage you are rated as a big underdog.
It’s been like this from the start. Everybody thinks that I already lost, at least in the US. They listen to his nonsense and believe every word of it. What he does is very American, he promotes his fights with lots of trash talk. Maybe Americans think, he who talks most automatically wins the fight. That is their attitude, I think nothing of that.

Well, McGregor backs his words up with his performances. He looked amazing against Dustin Poirier.
Yes, but still: You can’t hype a guy like this after only four fights in the UFC. He looked good in his last bout, but the fight lasted only two minutes. If you ask me, he landed a lucky punch there, until that point the fight was even. That win is nothing to me. And all his other fights? They haven’t been special, they haven’t been against extraordinary opponents. That doesn’t impress me at all.

How will your fight play out?
With a victory for me. It will be a tough fight, he has a very difficult style. I expect him to come out straight forward. After all, he has promised to knock me out in under two minutes.

So you obviously got wind of that prediction, too.
He can stick that prediction up his ass. When I am done with him on Sunday, I will be the one laughing. His talk doesn't impress me. I quit reading all those interviews, because it has gotten so ridiculous.

But his antics seem to work, he obviously got under your skin. We have never seen you like worked up like this before a fight.
Because I have never a fought a guy like this. To this day, all my opponents have been normal guys. I never had any personal feelings for anyone of them. With him, it’s different. This stuff is going on since two months now, it started even before the fight got signed. Everyone gets fed up at some time or another. I am no exception to that rule.

At which point did you say: enough is enough?
At the press conference in Las Vegas. That Nazi quote took things too far already, but to see his behavior live and in person… he is so full of himself. When I met him there for the first time, I saw what an idiot he really is. That was too much.

His behavior isn’t just showmanship? For example, Chael Sonnen is a very nice guy, when the cameras are turned off.
From what I saw, he is like this all the time. I can understand all that shit in front of the camera. But if you act like this in private, too, behind the stage, without any cameras – it shows that you are an asshole and just a really bad person.

It works for him. After just four fights in the UFC he already got promised a title shot if he beats you.
I think that’s a bit premature. There are lots of other guys out there that deserve it more, because they have accomplished a lot more things in their careers. They are pushing him very fast. I don’t know why or if it’s just because of his jabbering. The UFC can do what they want, that’s their thing. I will spoil that whole show anyway. I will bring him down to earth with a bang and take away his chance of a title shot.

Do you believe that a win over him could bring you into title contention?
It depends on how the fight plays out. Everything is possible, though. But at the end of the day I don’t care, really. To smash his face in will be more pleasing for me than any title shot in the world.